EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: A Rare Nicely Glazed Hand-Thrown 19th Century Red Earthenware Vase Possibly from Coastal Massachusetts

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

A Rare Nicely Glazed Hand-Thrown 19th Century Red Earthenware Vase Possibly from Coastal Massachusetts

No matter the maker, a vase is a rare form to see today from traditional red earthenware potters, who worked in a variety of regions in America in the eighteenth and nineteenth-centuries. The form became more popular in the latter-half of the nineteenth-century, but by no means was it a common style. I don't have proof, but I can't imagine that it was a universal form that transcended from one potter's business to the next. Personally, I just don't see every major potter's business producing such an object; although, it was a form that was definitely made by a number of potters, who stretched from the South, to Virginia, Pennsylvania, the Midwest, Western New York - and, throughout all of New England. The form was not only limited to red earthenware potters, either - some stoneware potters also embraced the form in the late-1800's. When it comes to this form, I personally enjoy a double-handled vase more than a traditional (handleless) vase; although, that's just my personal preference. In my opinion, the handles give the vase more character. The handles add detail to a simpler handleless object. A double-handled vase often has more of a personality - and, the handles really give it a sense of flare that speaks to the aesthetic and design movement that happened across America after 1870.

What I'd like to do in this report is reveal a rare double-handled vase that I purchased in recent years - and, through form, style and decoration, this vase embraces the idea of the kind of design that I have just previously described within the traditional red earthenware potter's community in the nineteenth-century.

Purely speaking, from a visual context, this double-handled vase is absolutely incredible! I would describe it as 'stunning.' It was sold to me by friends a little more than a year ago - and, it was picked many years before that. This vase is an example of a traditional utilitarian potter, who opted to make a decorative vase - rather, than the traditional household wares that most New England red earthenware potters are known for today before the Arts & Crafts Movement happened. This is not a vase that was made by a design company or an art potter during the nineteenth-century; it was made by a potter, who was also producing crocks, pots and pans. This is an example of a potter, who made household products - and, they decided to also make a vase. It's possible they decided to make a number of vases like this; however, this is the only vase like this that I know of today.

I believe this vase was possibly made in the potter's industry in Southeastern, Massachusetts, where there were dozens of potters employed at multiple businesses in the eighteenth and nineteenth-centuries, manufacturing both red earthenware and stoneware. This is also an area, where most of the products that have survived today predate 1830; however, the red earthenware businesses in this part of New England actually operated in Southeastern Massachusetts into the 1850's in Somerset at the Purinton Pottery - and, the Boyce Pottery appears to have even operated later, possibly as late as the 1880's or the early-1890's. I believe there is still much to be learned about the wares made in this part of New England after 1830 today. Personally, I don't think everything is known.

The glaze style seen on this vase is similar to some hand-thrown red earthenware rundlets that were entirely glazed in this part of New England before 1830 (ca. 1790-1830). The rounded foot is also somewhat reminiscent of some of the rounded feet seen on the more traditional household products also made in Southeastern Massachusetts before 1830. This is just a great form with a beautiful multicolored glaze.